Recent accomplishments

So there are galleries on and off 10th Avenue in Chelsea. I'd heard this was the case, but was always in too much of a post-Thai-food stupor when in the area to take a look. What I'd been picturing was something like one or two galleries, but it turns out art establishments stretch all the way from 19th up to... whatever street it is sleazy realtors claim as Chelsea's northern border, but is probably more like Clinton or Hell's Kitchen. (I'm assuming by the time you reach Zabars the galleries have stopped.) It's like another whole city! One that takes a whole long time on the crosstown bus to emerge from, but I suppose it was worth it, if only because among the fashionable passersby were Parker Posey and her poodle. (Alas, not my photo.) I noticed the poodle first, and only as they were about to pass that the owner was famous. (Poodles 1: indie celebs 0.) As for the art itself, some was political (about the Palestinians, unsurprisingly, but at least the artist herself is Palestinian and not just trendy, hint hint Kimmel-protesters), some was Haring/Warhol, and some was whoa what a lovely all-white space, and what a pretty and well-dressed recent art-history BA at the desk. All in all, the area was lovely, and if it were not for my severe addiction to Thai food, I would at some point want to go try this place. Lentil salad and steak, what could be better, other than Pad Gra Prow?

That said, there is no need for any of us to ever go to a restaurant again, ever, or at least not to order dessert in one, because this molten chocolate cake, on the Bitten blog, is nothing but a much better version of $7 fancy-restaurant cake, but at easily half the price, including the ramekins at $2 each, and of course less should you already own said ramekins. I realize this is a dessert commonly referred to as 'clichéd', but a) I don't eat out enough to be jaded re: desserts more complicated than a Twix; b) a dish reaches the status of cliché for a reason; and c) 'clichéd', like 'sinful', is a word that does not apply to food. If there's a culinary equivalent of North-Face-and-Uggs, it's probably delicious.

Finally, lest anyone be concerned, the WWPD Conservative Shoe Lust of 2009 has officially come to a close. To get a sense of what I wanted to find a cheaper version of, I tried on a pair of ridiculously expensive loafers at Cole Haan, which were both uncomfortable (despite the magical air Nike apparently pumped into them) and god-awful hideous. These may make a frighteningly loud noise with every step, especially startling in that they look like flats, but they are clearly the answer to my (not at all first-world) problems.